The Pope will allow women to vote for the first time in a global meeting of bishops in October in a historic move.
In the past, women were allowed to attend the synods, a papal advisory body, as advisors but not vote.
Under new rules announced by Pope Francis, five religious sisters will be given voting rights.
The bulk of those with voting rights will still be men.
Additionally, the Pope has called for the inclusion of “70 non-bishop members who represent various groupings of the faithful of the people of God,” some 50 per cent of whom are expected to be women.
The reforms are seen as a significant development in the male-dominated Catholic church. The Catholic church does not ordain women as priests.
The US-based Women’s Ordination Conference, which calls for women priests in the church, called the reform “a significant crack in the stained-glass ceiling”.
“For years Vatican representatives and bishops resisted, moving the goalpost with every synod as to why women were not allowed to vote,” the group said. “The unspoken reason was always sexism.”
It comes after two other major steps the pontiff has taken to increase women’s participation in the church’s decision-making.
He previously introduced a reform to allow any baptised lay Catholic, including women, to head most Vatican departments.
Last year, he also named three women to a previously all-male committee that advises him in selecting the world’s bishops.
Women’s groups in the Church have for years been demanding the right to vote at the high-profile synods, which prepare resolutions that usually lead to a papal document.
A 2018 synod became a flashpoint when two “brothers” – laymen who are not ordained – were allowed to vote in their capacity as superiors general of their religious orders.
But Sister Sally Marie Hodgdon, an American who also is not ordained, was not allowed to vote even though she was the superior general of her order.
The upcoming synod has been in preparation for two years, during which Catholics around the world were asked about their vision for the future of the Church.
Proponents have welcomed the consultations as an opportunity to give a greater voice to lay Catholics, including women, and people on the margins of society.
Conservatives say the process has been a waste of time and could, in the long run, dilute traditional doctrine.
